A Foggy Day In London Town

It's about midnight here in London, England and it is my second to last day in this beautiful city. Our hotel room, at Club Quarters, allows us to have a glimpse of St. Paul's Cathedral (aka where Princess Di and Prince Charles were married) out of our window. London is full of history, diversity, and energy. Where ever I explore, I see monuments, museums, and old statues. Everyone here either seems to have an accent or speaks another language. The streets are never quiet and if they are, I always manage to hear bell chimes off into the distance. Basically, London seems to be a perfect match for me.

Each day I always visit a local tea shop called "tea" and order a new flavor. So far I have had peppermint, Moroccan mint, yellow golden oolong and black rose. On the day I ordered black rose, I asked the nice server which of her black teas were the best. (I wanted to taste true English tea: strong and black) Her reply was "Are you sure you want black tea? Men only order that." I looked at her and said "In that case, what do the men usually order?" She gave me several options and I picked out black rose. It sounded feminine yet powerful. When I first tasted the tea, I burnt my tongue, of course. After I let my mouth cool, I took another daring sip and discovered that it tasted like very strong coffee. I tried to counter balance the bitterness with a couple packets of sugar but it was hopeless. After drinking it for awhile, I got used to the taste and enjoyed it.

During the four days I have been in London, my mother and I have gone to the theatre twice. Once to see Chicago and the other time to see Oliver. Both musicals were amazing and enchanting. Chicago was dazzling and very seductive. My mom pointed out a funny aspect of it though, all the British actors were trying to do an American accent (because obviously the show takes place in Chicago). After she told me this, it was quite comical at times to hear the native-born actors try to push aside their proper, crisp English accent and try on a blunt, rough American accent. Besides that, the singing and the dancing was amazing. Oliver was charming and surprisingly dark. It was the first time I had ever seen this musical, and I was shocked about how depressing it was. There was prostitution, murder, violence, and poverty. Here I thought it was a child's musical but it was filled with very mature content. The children actors were very talented and cute. I think that helped lighten up the play.

During the day, I have roamed around the city and visited many museums. Unfortunately, my mother is working during the day and that leaves me to be a lone-ranger. As I have told her many times, I prefer site seeing and exploring with a companion but it is nice to be on your own once in awhile. I have been able to absorb the English culture more by thoughtfully listening and observing the people around me (or what some may called "people watching"). So far I have discovered that almost everyone smokes here, enjoys a good drink, and appreciates history. All the men are dressed very stylishly or what we call in America they have a "metro" style. Its a nice change to see men not look sloppy but wear nice tailored suits. Women on the other hand, either wear fashionable high-heels or elf-like shoes. Of course there are some in-between but that is what the majority of what i have seen.

Many of the museums and sites I have visited are the Portrait Gallery in the National Museum, the National Museum, the Tate Modern Museum, and the British Museum. The Portrait Gallery contains over a 1,000 portraits and is surprisingly sponsored by BP, the same company who has leaked tons of oil into our gulf at home. A couple of my favorite portraits are of Queen Elizabeth I and of Jane Austen. The National Museum is comprised of various artists from Van Gogh to Turner. The Tate Modern Museum is filled with artwork from surrealism, realism, post-impressionism, cubism, futurism, and expressionism movements. A few of my favorite pieces I saw were created by Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollack. The British Museum had the most eclectic art in all of the other museums I had visited, which may account for why it was my favorite. This museum's collection spans over two million year of human history. The collections included work from Africa, Asia, Europe, and America. My favorite exhibit was comprised of Asian Art. Last quarter at Cal Poly, I took a Buddhist Asian Art History class and loved it. At the British Museum, I was able to put my knowledge to the test and truly enjoy looking at pieces of art that I have previously studied.

My first week of my travels have opened my eyes to new and exciting cultures. I feel truly blessed I can experience all of this now and so far I love it all. Hopefully I will keep this blog up to date but for now I miss you all at home and I hope you have enjoyed my first post!


Hannah


p.s. i will post pictures as soon as i figure out how too :)